I like to buy a company any fool can manage because eventually one will.

The biggest winners are surprises to me, and takeovers are even more surprising. It takes years, not months, to produce big results.

The natural-born investor is a myth.

Visiting stores and testing products is one of the critical elements of the analyst's job.

If you're lucky enough to have been rewarded in life to the degree that I have, there comes a point at which you have to decide whether to become a slave to your net worth by devoting the rest of your life to increasing it or to let what you've accumulated begin to serve you.

Know what you own, and know why you own it.

There's no use diversifying into unknown companies just for the sake of diversity. A foolish diversity is the hobgoblin of small investors. That said, it isn't safe to own just one stock, because in spite of your best efforts, the one you choose might be the victim of unforeseen circumstances. In small portfolios, I'd be comfortable owning between three and ten stocks.